Breathe in – twenty fifteen. Breathe out – twenty fourteen

What better time of the year than the very start of a new one to reassess who we are and who we would very much prefer to be. This year I am throwing my focus onto things that I am not doing right, in the hope that this will be the year when I finally get myself sorted.

Let's start with breathing. Can you believe it - something this basic and I got it all wrong. Turns out it's not as simple as inhale/exhale, and if you do it properly, good breathing can sort out all your life problems. You can read about how to breathe although it does feel a tiny bit silly. On a more practical note, The Press (December 16th 2014, p. A14) informs of a breathing course in Christchurch, and it may well come to that. But if all else fails, you could just immerse yourself in a good fiction book like Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler or Breath by Tim Winton.

What's more, I have also been eating incorrectly, but it's not strictly speaking my fault. Oh, the conflicting instructions I have been given: eat butter, don't eat butter, eat margarine, don't touch margarine - eat butter again. Watch out for sugar, go vegan, lower your salt, up your roughage, eat 5 days a week, fast two, never fast, eat small meals all day, eat Ancient Grains (whatever they may be). The library has an amazing array of food books: here's a selection already published in 2015. I'm so worn down by it all though, that I'm falling back on the Taoist option of Winnie the Pooh and eating whatever I like.

The final indignity is that I'm apparently not blogging correctly either. An entire issue of Mollie Makes (Blogging: The guide to Creative Content*) is devoted to this topic and I fail on most counts - possibly because blogging is one of the few things I don't over think. I can summarise blogging in 50 words: get an idea that has your brain wired - this usually happens at 2am. Make the naive leap of faith that if it interests you it will also captivate others. Write the entire thing in your head. Go back to sleep, wake up, bash out a draft, submit it. Move on. Mollie Makes, on the other hand, takes 178 pages packed full of admittedly very good tips.

So here's what I'm going to do: take a deep breath, eat exactly what I like, and blog on. That's my 2015 - all done and dusted.

*To find Mollie Makes: Blogging: The guide to Creative Content in the catalogue, click on View subscription and availability details and look for call number 745.5 MOL BLOGGING 2014.